Configuration Management: What It Means for Businesses

Configuration Management (CM) focuses on the product or the deliverables of a project. In IT automation systems, you can use CM for hardware, software, and network configurations.

Photo by rawpixel.com

In essence, CM is a set of the best working practices that deal with initial design as well as the subsequent changes you make to produce deliverables in the project.

Configuration management is all about documenting the components of a product and establishing a connection between them. CM can effectively ensure whether a change in one component has an impact on the others. In other words, configuration management is closely linked to change control.

It’s important to know the basics of CM in order to leverage it for your business. Here are some of its definitive elements.

1. Configuration Planning

Planning is all about deciding the level of configuration management a project requires and laying out a detailed plan to achieve it.

The plan needs to describe specific projects, along with their application. It also needs to identify the roles and the responsibilities allotted throughout the lifecycle of a project.

2. Configuration Identification

Configuration identification specifies and evaluates the components of the final deliverable or product. It identifies where certain components fit and interact with other components by showing:

The items included in configuration management

What the product components include

What is the configuration of the product components

The versions of the configuration items

3. Configuration Control

Configuration control consists of product management and related documentation. It ensures that you can effectively control all the changes you make to the configuration items.

Configuration control works together with change control to help you achieve the results you desire. The process continues throughout the life cycle of the product and takes the following into consideration:

What are the controlled items?

How do you control the changes?

Who controls the changes?

Does someone register the change requests upon receiving them? You need to store this information in the configuration file.

Has someone thoroughly assessed the proposed changes?

Have you informed the person who requested the decisions?

Does the updated plan have all the detailed information?

4. Configuration Status Accounting

This step involves the recording, as well as the reporting, of the deliverable and its configuration information throughout its lifecycle.

Status accounting helps track the modifications you make to the configuration items, and you can request it when you need to make an important decision in a project stage. In a nutshell, status accounting includes:

Status of the proposed changes

Changes that you could have made

Changes that you did make

Components that the change affected

5. Configuration Verification and Audit

This process verifies the correctness of the product and its components. It also helps verify the correctness of the configuration status accounting information. It ensures that you have:

People usually carry out the audit at pre-determined stages. Doing so makes sure that all the configuration items remain where they should be in the terms of lifecycle. It also ensures that there’s visible evidence of the change configuration and the completed testing processes.

It is obvious that without configuration management, it will be difficult for you to figure out changes in the system components with the change in requirements.

Dipti Parmar

Business consultant

Dipti Parmar is an experienced business and marketing consultant. She helps startups, brands and individuals build a stellar online reputation and establish thought leadership in their industry, with innovative content and digital marketing campaigns. Dipti's insights have been featured on major publications like Inc, CIO.com, CMO.com and Entrepreneur Mag.

Hi..
Great Article..
As I was having no idea about this but after reading your post I got to know about Configuration Management Businesses.
Your article is really helpful and worth reading.
Keep up of your good work.

Connect With Growmap

You can find out more about which cookies we are using or switch them off in settings.

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

You can adjust all of your cookie settings by navigating the tabs on the left hand side. Read our complete privacy policy.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

disable

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.